As a kid, I dreamed of playing left field for the Boston Red Sox. Hall of Fame player Carl Yastrzemski (Sox’s left fielder from 1961–1983) was my hero. But alas, my dream never got off the ground—the organized Little League teams in my neighborhood played on Wednesday nights.

As a pastor’s kid I had to be somewhere else on Wednesday nights—prayer meetings. While I wasn’t always excited to be there, I do remember times when missionaries—often ones who had visited our church on tour—were lifted up in prayer. There always seemed to be a little more excitement, a little more passion when we were praying for missionaries.

I remember instances when we prayed for dire needs—like in the1960s when missionary Archie Mitchell disappeared or when our missionaries had been killed in Vietnam. Prayer was part of my Christian & Missionary Alliance heritage. Though many churches (of any stripe) do not recognize the importance of prayer for lost people or missionaries, it is clear to me that we need to pray. Thanks to those Wednesday nights as a kid, I have never doubted that my prayers are needed.

C&MA founder, Dr. A. B. Simpson himself, desired to become a missionary. Although God called Simpson to “send” missionaries instead, he became legendary for his passion to pray for missions. Known for hugging a globe while he prayed, Simpson would often weep for hours over the lostness of so many around the world who had never heard the good news.

Simpson said, “There is no missionary force more prevailing than prayer. The great art of prayer in all the fullness of its power has been learned only by a few. God has His priests and priestesses who stand with holy hands at the footstool of the throne, sharing the intercession of the great High Priest, and some day it will be found that these are the greatest missionaries of all.”

As prayer leaders, we have lots of things to challenge our church to pray for. Even though praying for missions does not carry with it the same felt need as “getting my own needs” prayed for, or have the same pull as praying for our children, it should be right up there in biblical importance. Jesus commanded his disciples to pray for laborers to enter the harvest (Mt. 9:37-38). On several occasions while on his missionary journeys, Paul challenged believers to pray for him (see 2 Cor. 1:8-11).

In the past, one drawback to vibrant missions praying was the lack of knowledge of things to pray for. Communications between missionary and churches came infrequently. It was hard to develop fervor in prayer when you didn’t see the results. But with today’s technology and resources bringing the world closer all the time, there is no excuse for not providing up to date—sometimes even to the minute—information (even visual information) that can fuel vibrant prayer for missions.

In this issue of Empowered, you will find a number of great ideas and resources that can help you develop your church as a missions praying church. And remember, the more your church prays for missions, the more it will do missions!
 
Most of our people will never be missionaries on foreign soil, but they can have a powerful role in missions. We must not take prayer for missions lightly. It should be a part of everyone’s life. “The world is to be evangelized by the Church on her knees,” Simpson said. Do we believe that today? Then rise—or kneel—to the occasion!

--Jonathan Graf can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Rather than playing left field for the Red Sox, he is involved in ministry, teaching about prayer and mobilizing others to pray. The Wednesday nights of his youth were well spent.